Buffing-machine.



L. l. BAZZONI.

BUFFING MACHINE.

APPucATwN man 111AY1, 1912.

Patented Aug.l 6, 1918.

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LEWIS J'. BAZZONI, 0F SWAMPSCOTT, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNEASSIGN- MENTS, TO UNITED SHOE MACHINERY CORPORATION, 0F PATERSON, NEWJERSEY,

A CORPORATION 0F NEW JERSEY.

peoic''ton of Letters Patent.

BUFFING-MACHINE.

Patented Aug. c, 191e.

Application mea'my 1, 1912. serial No. 694,534.

drawings indicating like parts in the several A figures.

This invention relates to abrading or polishing machines and is hereinillustrated as embodied in a machine for buiing the bottoms of boots andshoes.

It is desirable that the bottom of a inished shoe shall be smooth andshall ossess what is known in the trade asa velvet finish. lt is almostuniversally the custom to buff the bottoms of shoes by presenting themin succession to two rolls located side by side upon a rotating shaft,and, when the velvet finish referred to above is desired, to subjectthem to the further operation of a pneumatic pad which raises the napand thereby produces the desired finish.

@ne object of the present invention is to produce the nish without theadditional operation, and to this end there are provided two buing toolsarranged in proximity to each other whereby a shoe may be presentedfirst to one and then to the other and means for causing the operative`faces of said tools to travel in opposite directions. In theillustrative embodiment of the invention these tools take the form ofabrasive belts having operative faces of comparatively coarse andcomparatively fine abrasive material respectively, the shoe beingpresented first to the coarse, which removes the grain of the leatherand accomplishes the first part of the smoothing operation, and then tothe fine which completes the smoothing operation and at the same timeraises the nap to give the desired finish.

In all bufng machines a large quantity of dust is produced which, forobvious reasons, must be removed as effectively as possible,v andanother feature of the invention consists in a plurality of abrasivebelts arranged in PIOXmlty t0 each other and caused to travel inopposite directions and an ex haust pipe having its receiving mouthlocated in proximity to adjacent ortions of runs of the belts which aretrave ing toward each other.

It is desirable, for reasons which will presently be set forth, thatmeans be provided for pressing upon or supporting the belt'at selectedlocalities, and other features of the invention consist of presserswhich are caused, manually or automatically by the presentation of theshoe, to press upon the back of the belt and thereby support it in aselected locality.

These and other features of the invention including certain details ofconstruction and combinations of parts will be described in connectionwith an illustrative machine and pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is an elevation of amachine in which the present invention is embodied;

Fig. 2 is a perspective showing a portion of one of the abrasive belts,together with a shoe in the position which it occupies While the sole isbeing operated upon;

Fig. 3 is a rear elevation of a portion of one of the abrasive beltsshowing the position occupied by the presser to cause the the supportwhile the top-lift of the shoe is being bui'ed.

' The base 1 of the machine is provided with a verticalarm 3 and twolateral arms 5 and 7. Pivotally mounted upon the arm 3 are two swingingarms 9 and 11 yieldingly upheld by springs 13 and 15 and carrying attheir outer ends pulleys 17 and 19. Cooperating with the pulley 17 aretwo smaller fixed pulleys 21 and 23 mounted as shown, while similarpulleys 25 and 27 coperate with the pulley 19. An abrasive belt 29passes around the pulleys 17, 21 and 23 and a similar belt 31 passessimilarly around pulleys 19, 25 and 27, it being understood that onebelt has an operating face of coarser abrasive material than the other.Each belt/ thus has a horizontal run and two inclined or oblique runs.In the illustrative machine the pulleys 25, 27, 23, and 21 are inalinement so that the lower or operative runs of the abrasive belts arelocated 1n a common plane. rIhis exact arrangement is, of course,

not essential provided that the operative portions of the belts areadjacent' so that a shoe may conveniently be presented first to are'driven by means of open and crossed belts 43 and 45 respectively sothat, as has been explained,the abrasive belts 29 and 31 travel inopposite directions.

It frequently happens that there is a depression 1n the sole of a shoeand this is particularly liable to occur adjacent the breast of theheel'owing to the pressure exerted upon this portion of the sole duringthe heel- 'attaching operation.v In order to provide means .for buffingsuch depressed areas, pressers 63 and 65 in the form of frusto-conicalwheels are angularly movable about pivots 67 and 69 and are arranged tobe depressed against the .back of the belt by gravity.

when desired by treadles 71 and 73 which are connected by chains withthe arms which carry the presser' wheels.. YSprings 72 and 74 normallyhold the presser wheels in raised position. By using presser wheels ofthis particular shape it is possible, as will be evident from aninspection ofFig. 3, to bud 'a depressed area in the shank close up tothe breast of the heel.

In buiing the toplift on a roll, as is commonly done, there 1s always aliability that the edges ofthe toplift will be rounded thus giving tothefinished shoe an undesirable appearance. If, in the present machine, thetoplift were pressed against the unsupported belt a similarl effect,although probably of a less degree, might be produced. Ac-

cordingly, a flat' faced support 75 is pivoted at 77 to a bracket 79which is clamped to the arm 7. Fast to this support is a heel rest 81which extends along' the front face of the belt. The relative locationof the pivot 77 andthe support 75 is such that the face of the supportis .normally held lightly en now a Aheel of a shoe is placed upon saidrest, as illustrated in Fig. 4, a force is thereby exerted to rotate thesupport about the pivot 77 and hence to press the support firmly againstthe back of the belt. Al-

though only one-such support has been 1 Lafrance shown, it is obviousthat another'onesimibe mounted upon the other arm' lar to it may 5 ifdesired.' y K K It has been stated. above that one ofthe reasons .forlocating the lower runs of the .belts as shownls to permit readypresentation ofashoe from'one to theother; This arrangement, however,serves 4the further purpose of yfacilitating the removal of the dustproduced by the buling operation.' An

abrasive tool running athigh velocity draws with it in its movement aconsiderable amount-of the dust produced. In'the present machine,therefore, lthe dust will in a large part be drawn toward the center ontthe machine'approximately in the direction of the travel. of the belts.In order to make use of this movement of the dust, an ex` haust pipe 83connected with a blower 85'is provided with a flaring mouth whichconforms to the adjacent outlines of the pulleys 23- and 27, said mouth,for the purpose of making the draft-more ei'ective, having a l partition87 therein. The blower 85 may be driven in any convenient manner as, forexample, by a belt 89 which passes over a pulley on the driving shaft35. p

-Inorder to permit the" abrasive belts 29 and 31 to be removed andreplaced when de` sired, the arms 9 and 11 are'connected with treadles91 and 93.

The operation of the device is as follows:

Considering that the right hand belt 29 has a surface of vcoarser-'abrasive material than that of the belt 31 the shoe is rst presented tothe lower run of the belt 29 in the manner illustrated in Fig. 2 andmoved about by the operator until all portions in its surface have been'thoroughly dperated upon. If there are depressions in the sole, theoperator depresses the treadle 73 yso as to bring the presser wheel 63down upon the back of the belt and thereby force it into suchdepressions. During this part` of the operation the lgrain of theleather is removed but the ber or nap is all laid in one direction. rIhesole is then presented to the left hand belt which completes thesmoothing of the' surface of the sole and at the same time raises thenap to produce a velvet, inish. During this' timethe dustproduced by theoperationof the belt is carried along to the'mouth of thev exhaust pipe83 -through which it is drawn by the action of the. blower. In. ordertobul the toplift of a heel the shoe is pre-` .sented to the belt or beltsin the manner illustrated in Fig. 4, and,- if necessary, a slightdownward pressure is exerted upon the shoe so as to hold the supportrigidly in place against the back of the belt.

Although the invention has been set forth inv connection with aparticular machine, it should be understood that the invention is notvlimited in the scope of its application to the particular machine shownand described.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as newr and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1, A machine of theclass described having, in combination, a set of pulleys, la beltirunning around the pulleys of said set, a

second setof pulleys `having their ends inl substantially the same planeas those ofthe yfirst set, a second belt running around the pulleys ofthe second set, means for operating one pulley of each set to cause theoperative runs of the belts to travel toward each other, pressersnormally held out of contact with the back of the operative runs of saidbelts, said pressers being shaped to enter the angle between the sole ofa shoe and the breast of the heel, and treadle operated means for movingsaid 'pressers into contact with the backs of said operative runs,

there being a free and unobstructed space beneath said operative runs topermit manual presentation of a shoe.

Q 'A machinel of the class described having, in combination, a pluralityof butlin'g belts arranged in proximity to each other in position topermit a shoe to be presented manually first to the operative run of oneand then to the operative run of the other, means for causing theoperative runs of said belts to travel toward each other and an exhaustpipe common to the two belts and having its receiving mouth located inproximity to adjacent portions of the runs of the belts which aretraveling toward each other.

3. A machine of the class described having, in combination, a pluralityof buiiing belts arranged in proximity to each other in position topermit a shoe to be presented manually first to the operative run of oneand then to the operative run of the other, means for causing theoperative runs of said belts to travel toward each other, and afrusto-conical rotary member movable at will into and out of contactwith the back of the operative run of one of said belts.

4. A machine of the class described having, in combination, a pluralityof buiing belts having approximately horizontal operativey runs whichare normally straight, there being a free and unobstructed space beneathsaid runs to permit manual resenta-` tion of a shoe rst to one belt anthen to the other, means for causing said operative runs to traveltoward each other, a presser located adjacent the backy of each belt atthe operative run thereof and normally out of contact therewith, andtreadle actuated means for causing either presser to contact instantlywith the back of the respective belt and thereby force said beltdownwardly at the point of contact.

5. A- machine of the class described havsupporting portion ing, incombination, a belt having an inclined run, a combined belt supportingand heel supporting member and a pivot connecting said member with theframe of the machine.

6. A machine of the class described having,.in combination, a belthaving an inclined run, a fiat faced member pivoted to the frame of themachine and arranged to be held against the back of said belt by gravitsaid member being provided with a heel extending partially across theface of said belt.

A machine of the class described having, in combination, a belt havingan approximately horizontal operative run, arranged to permitpresentation thereto of the sole of a shoe, and an oblique run, meansfor actuating said belt, and a member having a flat face arranged tocontact with the back of a portion of said oblique run and a portion forsupporting the heel of a shoe with the toplift in contact with the faceof said oblique run.

8. A machine of the class described having, in combination, two sets ofpulleys arranged in the form of triangles with their bases approximatelyin alinement, belts arranged to travely one -around each set o pulleys,means for causing the operative runs of said belts to travel in oppositedirections, yielding means'for sup orting one pulley of each set wherebythe be ts are maintained taut, and treadle actuated means for movingsaid yieldingly supported pulleys in opposition to said yielding means.

9. A machine of the class described having in combination, a set ofpulleys, a belt running around the pulleys of said set, a second set ofpulleys having their ends located in substantially the same plane asthose of the first set, means for rotating one pulley of each set in adirection to causel the operative runs of the belts to travel towardeach other, said operative runs being approximately horizontal andterminating in upwardly extending runs, a pulley of one set beinglocated in proximity to a pulley of the other set at the points at whichthe operative runs terminate, and an exhaust hood extending up betweensaid last-named pulleys.

10. A machine of the class described having, in combination, a set ofpulleys, an abrasive belt running around the pulleys of said set, asecond set of pulleys having their ends in substantially the same planeas the Y back of the operative runs of said belts, said pressers beingshaped to enter the angle between the sole of a shoe and the breast ofVa heel, and manually operative means for e moving said presseis intoContact with the backs of said belts. ai

In testimony whereof l.' have signed my name to this specification inthe presence of two subscribing Witnesses. v

,Y 'LEWIS J. Bazzom.4

Witnesses: v

' CHESTER ElRoGERs,

MABEL A. SWEET.

